1. Field of the Invention
The present invention relates generally to computer-implemented methods and more particularly to a system and method of rating a product or service.
2. Description of the Prior Art
Consumers often must decide whether to buy a product based on many factors that include product features, price, or performance of the product. Consumers also consider whether a product is consistent with one's moral, environmental, and personal values. In many cases, a retail consumer decides whether to purchase a product while viewing one's choices at the point of purchase in a retail store. Similarly, a business must also decide among various products when purchasing supplies, services, inventory, and equipment.
In addition, consumers and business may also consider whether to purchase a product based on the product's country of origin. For example, in the interest of supporting the US economy, a consumer may prefer to purchase products that are made in the US over products made in other countries. Also, market research has shown that consumers automatically form an opinion or stereotype about a product based on its country of origin. Consumer opinions are particularly relevant when a product is produced in a country perceived as producing lower-quality goods or having oppressive labor practices. Not surprisingly, consumers have become increasingly aware of product origins.
Traditionally, the United States Federal Trade Commission has required that products with the label “Made in the USA” must be “all or virtually all” made in the U.S., meaning that such a product should contain no more than negligible amounts of foreign content. Also, most imports to the US, including many food items, must bear labels informing the ultimate purchaser of the product's country of origin.
To help with product purchase decisions, several systems and methods exist to aid the consumer or business in deciding which product to purchase. U.S. Pat. No. 6,430,554 to Rothschild discloses an interactive search system used on a computer network for supplying product information to the user based on an identifying product code such as a barcode or UPC code input to the system. Using a bar code or UPC code, a computer network identifies the product's manufacturer and obtains information such as price comparisons, locations where the product is available for purchase, recall notices related to the product, news articles, websites, discussion groups, and product reviews. The method also facilitates ordering the product by directing the consumer to a web page where the product is available for purchase.
U.S. Pat. No. 7,917,401 to Baker discloses a method and system that uses a barcode or RFID reader on a handheld device for obtaining health and financial information about products. Based on a code scanned by the user, the system identifies the product and obtains price and health information about the product. The system analyzes whether the price is consistent with the user's financial plan and also obtains competitor's prices, quality ratings, and consumer reviews. The system also provides health-related information to the user, such as ingredient alerts, fat and protein content, caloric content, and health budget analyses.
Electronic methods are also available for evaluating the sustainability of a business entity. U.S. Pat. No. 7,277,864 to Ohnemus discloses a method of rating the sustainability of a legal entity based on an analysis of at least some non-economic factors. A company may enter information about itself and data is used to compute one or more sustainability scores for environmental impact, treatment of people, governance, financial criteria, and economic criteria. Scores are used to rate companies, products, governments, and executives with respect to one another or within an industry. A subscriber to the method may customize how scores are computed in order to reflect institutional preferences.
In combination with these methods described above, the consumer may look at product packaging to determine the product's country of origin.